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August has arrived - its hot and the young birds are on parade Trips this month: 8
Back to Journal Index
8/1/08
Hey there!
Today was a momentous day in the McCharen household as Hope and I drove to
the bank and wired the money to pay off our mortgage. After 21 years, we now
actually OWN our home - free and clear! Hope had to head to work and since
the weather forecast called for an 80% chance of rain I decided to be the
responsible homeowner and mow the front lawn for the first time since June.
When I was done, I looked at the sky and the radar and decided that I could
still get a paddle in. I thought about waiting for the tide and chancing
that the weather would allow me to head back to Pumpkin Hill to do some more
shrimping but I was hot and tired and decided instead to head to the FGR and
cool off with a swim. Young Spoonbill on the FGR
I was in the water at 1:30 and had to paddle against the swift outgoing
mid-tide. I considered letting the current carry me out to the ocean but I
pressed on and was able to make progress against the current by cutting back
and forth across the channel in a ferrying action. As I reached the end of
the docks, I spotted a young Roseate Spoonbill feeding along the shore of
the big sand bar so I paddled up and shot him for a while before heading
into the entrance of the stream that cuts in past the final dock. Great Blue Heron bathing in the FGR
The current was swift as the last of the water flowed out of the area by
"our sand bar" and I had difficulty paddling against it. An Osprey I hadn't
seen swooped out of a tree directly above me without chirping but flew to a
tree upstream. I shot him for a while and then paddled up to the place where
we usually park to have our picnics. I jumped in the icy water and spent the
next hour relaxing and drinking a beer. While I was there, I noticed a Great
Blue Heron land several yards away on the sandbar. I grabbed my camera and
walked down to take some pictures but when I got in view he was doing
something I had never seen a Heron do before. He was standing chest deep in
the water with his head hunched over nearly in the water.
As I watched and shot I realized that he was taking a bath in the water and
after he had dunked himself in the water he walked back up on the sand bar
and began ruffling his feathers and grooming himself. I packed up to leave
and since the stream was now closed off at the north end I headed back the
way I came, shooting the still grooming Heron as well as a Great Egret who
had been harassed by another Osprey who was perching nearby.
I headed up to the end of the big sand bar with the intention of
circumnavigating it on the way back to the Ribault Club. I could see an
Osprey perching on the large piling that is prominent at the north end of
the sand bar so I pulled into the stream that cuts through that end of the
island. He flew off but I was able to get a few shots and could also see a
young Reddish Egret nearby but it was too shallow to go any further up the
stream. Great Blue Heron
As I made my way around the point and into the main channel of the river I
could now see that a large storm front was coming from the south and the
wind started to pick up. As I progressed around the island I was suddenly
confronted by a 20 mph breeze that was kicking up some pretty good sized
swells. I pulled over to stow away my electronics and since I was already
halfway around the sand bar I decided to press on. I kept up a steady pace
into the swells and got a good splashing as the waves crashed over the bow
of my boat. The lightning and thunder started to crash and then the rain
started and by the time I reached the west side of the bar it was raining
heavily. Once around the point, the wind was in my favor and I rode it
swiftly to put-in at the Ribault Club.
See the pictures from this trip
8/3/08
Young Red Tailed Hawk at Cedar Point
Once again the tides weren't quite right for me to go shrimping on Pumpkin
Hill so I decided to head over to Cedar Point instead. Low tide was at 5:20 so
when I reached the put-in at 7 the water was just barely high enough to
launch. I could see as soon as I launched that it was going to be an
interesting photo day as all around the put-in I could see Roseate
Spoonbills and other birds feeding in the shallows. Spoonbill and Tri-Colored Heron
I paddled over to the first pair of Spoonies and spent some time shooting
them while a Clapper Rail peeked out from behind the grass line. They flew
off and I continued on until I spotted a Green Heron behind an oyster bed
and
I headed over. As I was shooting him I realized that there was another one
down in a depression in the oyster bed so I shot the pair of them. There was
a squawk coming from the grass nearby and as I watched two or three Rails
came running out chasing each other around the area. I spent the next several minutes
shooting the Herons and Rails and had taken over 100 pictures before I had
traveled a half mile.
When I decided to head on from there I spotted some activity across the way
and paddled over. I could see what looked like several young Marsh Wrens
flitting about including one that was chasing a grasshopper along the shore.
After shooting them for a while I made my way toward the confluence point
but saw very little the rest of the way up to the sea daisy island there. I
took a short break but decided to wait until I got to the point to eat
my breakfast and headed north with the current.
Another of the many young Green
Herons in the marsh right now
Once I got close to the point, I spotted a large bird perching in one of the
trees. At first I assumed that it was an Osprey but as I got closer it began
to call in a raspy chirp that sounded nothing like an Osprey. The sun was
behind it making identification difficult but I was starting to believe that
it was a young Red Tailed Hawk. As I was shooting I started to wonder if it was a Peregrine Falcon instead
but about the time I was thinking that, another
bird flew up from behind and tried to land on the same branch. There was a
brief vocal confrontation between the two birds and the second bird flew
off. It was then that I realized that the first bird couldn't be a Falcon
because there was no doubt that the second bird was and the size difference
was considerable. The Hawk stayed there chirping long after I had paddled in as
far under it's tree as I could and when I decided to head back out to the
main channel it flew off.
I paddled up to the landing and took my breakfast break and then decided to
head further north to check out the two nests located upstream. There were
no Eagles near the nest that I think might belong to them but a pair of
Ospreys were nearby. I paddled on up to verify that the boat squatters were
still anchored where they have been for the last year and a half - they are
-
and then headed back to the landing where I got out and threw my cast net a
few times but came up empty. Osprey at Cedar Point
I headed back south with the tide approaching slack but a stiff breeze had
picked up. I was paddling along the edge of the grass when suddenly the
water beneath my boat erupted into a vortex that sucked my boat down. I
thought I was going to capsize for a brief second but the water settled down
quickly although I could see a cloud of mud rising from beneath me. After a
couple of "Holy Craps!" I waited
to see if a fin would appear but nothing did so I assumed that it was a huge
stingray that I had disturbed. A few seconds after I continued on to the
south, a saw gnarly snout followed by the bulbous body and round fin of a
Manatee. Apparently, the underwater commotion was caused by the Manatee whom
I had disturbed while he was munching on some grass or dozing under the
water.
I continued on back to the put-in without further incident.
See the pictures from this trip
8/4/08
Green Herons everywhere!
Low tide at Tiger Point was supposed to be at 7:20 a.m. so I figured I would give shrimping another
try and was at the put-in at just before 7. It usually
takes me at least 30 minutes to get to my shrimping spot so I knew that I
was going to get there just as the tide turned slack - if I didn't get
distracted along the way. Lots of young Night Herons too.
Of course on such a beautiful morning it was very hard not to just say no to
shrimping and spend the day shooting all of the birds who were out feeding
at low tide. As soon as I rounded the first bend, I could see the area
leading up to the trails was full of birds and I counted at least 8 immature
Night Herons on the sandbar and I paused to shoot them before heading on.
The last of the outgoing current carried me around the next bend and apart
from shooting a Spoonbill and some more immature Night Herons I made for my shrimping
spot without delay. As I pulled up I didn't get the same reception I
received a week earlier with shrimp hopping in my lap but I got out anyway
and was encouraged when my first toss netted three keepers.
Unfortunately, the next hour or so gained me only about 10 more shrimp and I
was exhausted. I did catch one very angry sting ray and something else very
large that quickly exited my net before I could tell what it was. I had seen
some large Gar surfacing in the area so it may have been one of them and I
was happy to let it go free. Frustrated, I decided to pack it in and head
for the point to see who was perching there. Before I left the area,
however, a young Green Heron caught my attention and I spent at least 20
minutes shooting him as he crept ever closer to my boat to check me out. Spoonbill at the point
I left him and made my way to the point as the incoming tide started flowing
in. There was a lone Spoonbill perching in the trees and a pair of Green
Herons who posed for me as I head into Edwards Creek. I pulled up to the
landing upstream of Tiger Point and noticed a few shrimp jumping and figured
"what the hell?" My first cast yielded four decent sized shrimp so I kept
casting. It was a much better area to cast from since it was an actual
shoreline with firm footing for a good ways out into the water and I could
also walk up in the grass and cast from the shoreline above the water. The
only draw back was the abundance of oysters which seemed to come up in
clumps with nearly every cast. My yield per cast was much better than it had
been elsewhere although the size was generally smallish. I had one
protracted battle with a Blue Crab who escaped from my net and retreated to
the back of my boat. It took me about five minutes before I convinced him to
return to the water but he finally got the message. Green Heron showing his tree
climbing skills
I cast for about 45 minutes and wound up with about 4 dozen on the entire
day which made it worthwhile, although just barely. At least I now have a
good alternative spot to try. I headed back, cruising under the trees at
Tiger Point which now held three or four Spoonies who were done for the day or at
least until the next low tide later in the evening. I stopped at the little
point near the trails and shot yet another Green Heron before heading on
back to the put-in. It was an exhausting day and not really worth the effort
for so few small shrimp.
The photo ops made it more than a great day, however.
See the pictures from this trip
8/10/08
Into the void - launching into a
thick fog on Pumpkin Hill
I decided to head to Pumpkin Hill this morning to try my luck at shrimping
at least one more time before I gave it up for the year. With low tide at around 11:30, I figured that it
would give me a chance to paddle around a bit while I waited for the water
to get to the right level. Once it got light, as I prepared to leave the
house, I noticed that there was a light ground fog along Heckscher Dr., so I
was hoping that it would be present once I got to the put-in at Pumpkin
Hill. Sun finally breaking through
It was a still, humid morning and as I drove down Cedar Point road the
light, patchy ground fog got progressively denser and when I arrived at the
water's edge I was thrilled to see one of the thickest fogs I have ever seen
during the summer. As I gazed out across the water there was no way to tell
where the water ended and the sky began and not a ripple was stirring the
glassy surface of where I thought the water was - it was my kind of
morning! Osprey in the fog
I paddled across to the shore opposite the put-in with the intention of
following the little stream that cuts through the marsh to the little island
located east of the first bend. With the water at mid-level I thought
that there might be a bird or two perched there waiting for feeding time.
Because of the thickness of the fog I had no bearing references and went
into the wrong path so I backed out and paddled up to the island from the
other direction. As usual, whenever there is a fog or heavy dew, the marsh
grass becomes a mass of spider webs that seem to be strung from every blade
of grass and the sun illuminates the silvery strands.
I saw no birds perching, but I had plenty of photo ops as I shot the webs
and the sun trying futilely to break through the fog as it rose over
Black Hammock. I made my way toward the trails floating with the gentle
current. As it often does on a thick fog on the water I had the feeling of
floating through the air since I could not tell where the sky and water met.
Only when I would approach an object like a clump of grass or an oyster bed
could I tell that I was actually on the water. Alligator
I rounded the bend near the trails and hugged the north side of the channel
there as I floated down. I tried to enter the area near the little point but
since I couldn't see the shore I took a wrong turn and had to turn around. I
saw the carcass of a Raccoon laying in the grass but little else and no one
was perching at the point. As I approached my shrimping spot the silhouette
of the Alligator who hangs out there rose in the fog before me. Using the "1
inch = 1 foot and dollar bill = 6 inches rule" I was able to estimate that
he is about four, maybe five feet long. He swam along in front of me as I
rounded the bend and I was able to get closer to him than usual. Young Tri-Colored Heron
As I got closer to Tiger Point, the fog slowly started to thin but was still
pretty dense near the grass. I spotted a young Tri-Color fishing and pulled
over to get some good shots. I reached the point and saw a lone Spoonbill
along with some Great Egrets perching. I paddled a ways up Edwards Creek
toward my new shrimping spot but seeing no activity I decided to head back
to Pumpkin Hill and paddled out to the bay or cove east of the flats. Once I
turned around and was facing the sun I could see all of the dew laden spider
webs that were hanging from the trees at the point and paused to shoot them
before heading on. Spoonbills and Great Egret in the
bay
Once I got to the bay, I could see a group of Spoonbills along the western
shore so I paddled over and shot them before they flushed. I came back to
Tiger Point and decided to try my luck at tossing my cast net. A lone
Dolphin preceded me as I entered Edwards Creek but I never got a chance to
shoot him. I caught a small shrimp on my first cast and a large one
volunteered but after about 30 minutes of empty nets I gave up and decided
to try my luck back at my old spot. A Green Heron posed for me as I floated
by the trees, raising his Mohawk crest a couple of times as he clucked at
me. Green Heron with his Mohawk on
display
A local had been casting earlier when I arrived at the point and he was now
beached opposite the point talking loudly on his cell phone to a buddy. I
eaves dropped (it wasn't difficult) as I cruised by and heard him complain
loudly to his friend that there "weren't no shrimp here!". That kind of
confirmed what I had already experienced but I stopped at my spot anyway and
tried my luck again. After a few casts with only a variety of fish, I packed
it up and started making my way back.
I passed some more Spoonbills and a family of Black Bellied Plovers before
arriving back at the put-in. A family was fishing and casting there and I
asked them if they had any shrimp and they too said there luck was dismal as
far as the shrimp were concerned.
Well, one of the chapters in my Naturalists class is on Invertebrates so
maybe I'll learn a thing or two about the cycles of shrimp around here but
for now - the shrimping season is over and its back to my regular routine.
See the pictures from this trip
8/15/08
Storks, Spoonbills and Reddish Egret
on Hannah Mills
My four day weekend finally arrived and I was ready to paddle since my
Naturalist Classes have pretty much killed my after work opportunities. With
high tide around 8:30 I decided to set out into Hannah Mills with my planned
destination the Pelican pool located west of the waterway. Roseate Spoonbills on Hannah Mills
It was overcast as I set out and it obscured the sunrise until it was well
above the horizon. It was too dark to shoot the Night Herons so I set out to
the north. I could see that the sea daisy island that lies just north of the
big pool was crowded with Spoonbills so I eased up to it shooting until they
flushed. I paddled on up toward the old cedar tree where I usually take my
break and ate my breakfast before heading on up the feeder streams that
parallel the ICW. Once out on the waterway I headed north with the incoming
current until I reached the gap between the two islands that lie east of the
pool. Since someone was fishing where I normally beach my boat, I decided to
try to approach the pool from the south but the vegetation proved to be too
thick so I headed back to my boat and tried again nearer to the slough.
The last time I was at the pool, there was a lone White Pelican still there
which surprised me since this flock has always left during the summer months
but today I was even more surprised when I saw six of the big giants sitting
on their spit of land that juts out into the pool. There were some Reddish
Egrets and other birds there with them and off to the side in the pool
nearer to the island were a couple of dozen Roseate Spoonbills along with at
least a dozen Wood Storks and one or two Reddish Egrets. White Pelicans - staying for the
summer
I spent about 30 minutes shooting the two groups. At one point I stumbled,
causing the Pelicans to flush, but they merely circled the pool a couple times
before crashing back down in the pool where they swam along the western edge
as I packed up and headed back to by boat. I decided to cross the waterway
and enter Deep Creek for the first time in a couple of years. The tide by
now had peaked out so there was very little current opposing me. I marked
some waypoints as I went but saw very little along the way. I reached the
channel tower at Shad Creek and ducked into the lagoon behind the island
there where the barge had been anchored a couple of years ago.
This used to be one of the islands that Hope and I camped on, but for over a
year we were unable to because of the barge that we dubbed the "floating meth lab". The Nature Conservancy and the Coast Guard finally forced them to
move on but we had heard that they had really trashed the island out so I
wanted to see how bad it was. Like most of the islands along the ICW, it had
always been a little trashy so it really wasn't as bad as I had feared.
There was a bench seat from a van and some large cushions but other than
than just the usual piles of beer cans. It would take some doing to clean it
up and the help of some power boaters to get rid of the larger stuff.
I left the island and crossed Shad creek to pass along behind the islands to
the south and then crossed over waterway at the Kingfish park. The current
was now ripping out of Hannah Mills and I struggled against it as I made my
way west. As I approached the sea daisy island near the pool, I could see
that the Spoonbills had returned so I spent some time shooting them and then
headed back to my truck.
See the pictures from this trip
8/17/08
Dolphin at the confluence point
I headed up the road and put in at Cedar Point along Heckscher drive. I was
in the water at sun rise but, once again, the overcast skies obscured the
event although the full moon was visible briefly before setting behind the
clouds. High tide was at 10:30 so I was in the water right at mid tide and
set out into absolutely glassy waters. There was not much stirring so I
rounded the first bend and headed north toward the confluence point. Dolphins having fun with their food
on Cedar Point
As I paused to shoot a Great Blue Heron at the entrance to the confluence
point I could see some huge splashes near the sea daisy island where Hannah
Mills joins with Cedar Point. As I approached the island, I could see that
there were at least four Dolphins who were feeding in the area. I pulled
over to the side and put my camera in multi-frame mode and spent the next
thirty minutes enjoying the show. The Dolphins were very active - flying out
of the water backwards, swishing their tails about and generally having more
fun with their food than anyone has a right to. After a while they began to
move off toward Clapboard Creek but as I watched, one of them surfaced and
stayed motionless on the surface of the water. I could hear a high pitched
bubbling sound coming from where he was floating on the surface that sounded
a lot like air leaking from an inner tube or air mattress. This continue for
a few seconds and then turned into a low pitched raspberry sound like
someone blowing air from their mouth at the surface of the water. He then
submerged and rejoined his friends and the group headed off toward
Clapboard. Marsh Wren
I'm not sure what it was that I heard and witnessed but I wondered if I had
witnessed a "Dolphin Fart". Sure enough, when I googled it later I
discovered that, yes, Dolphins do indeed pass gas as do all animals so I
guess that was what I heard. At any rate, we parted company and after taking my
breakfast break at the island I headed north toward the point. I hadn't
really decided where I was going to end up but as I floated north with the
current I thought about taking one of the branches that head out into the
middle of the marsh near the Pelican pool. I knew that the first one that I
came to would eventually take me all the way out to Cedar Point near the
island at the mouth of the creek where I have camped before. I have taken
this branch before during the spring tides and knew that it would take me
very close to the Pelican pool and I eventually found the stream that would
take me as close as possible to the area. Approaching the Pelican pool from
the west
The stream petered out but I could lift myself up and see the heads of the
White Pelicans sitting on their spit. The ground beneath the spartina grass
was firm so I exited my boat and walked over to the edge of the pool and
shot the Pelicans as they dozed in the sun. Their pool is such an odd little
habitat and so ideal for them since as I confirmed by walking around the
area that there is absolutely no outlet or inlet to the pool. I wondered if
there wasn't some kind of fresh water spring seeping into it to keep the
water levels up since only at very high tides does the brackish water seep
through the grass and into the pool.
Eventually, I returned to my boat and continued north until I found the
place where this branch re-enters Cedar Point a few hundred yards west of
the waterway. Actually, this stream branches off directly south of the
island there and enters the creek on either side of it so I could have taken
either stream. The current was still flowing in from the waterway so after
considering doing a circumnavigation of the marsh I headed west and then
back south toward the confluence point where I made my way back to the
put-in.
See the pictures from this trip
8/17/08
Scratching an itch - White Pelicans
on Pumpkin HIll Creek
Big, fat, sloppy, fickle, Fay finally moved on to dump water on the rest of Florida
she hadn't touched yet and after spending the weekend taking care of wet
carpet and downed trees, I was ready to get out on the water to check
things out. I was able to get to the put-in at Pumpkin Hill at just after 7
and was a little surprised to see the water levels as low as they were - not
too much higher than normal mid-tide. It was a beautiful, still, muggy
morning and it seemed as if the marsh was more lush and green than it was a
week ago. Roseate Spoonbill
I wasn't sure what I would find once I got out but I figured that if the
birds were still in the area they would be hungry since they had most likely
spent several days hunkered down. As I rounded the first bend and headed
toward the trails a small flock of Glossy Ibis - a bird I have never seen in
this area, flew in from the west and appeared to land in the grass near the
put-in. A few minutes later a group of five or six White Pelicans followed
the same route, but once over Pumpkin Hill they took a sharp right and headed
south. I wondered if this group was the Pelicans who stayed in the pool
south of Cedar Point for the summer and perhaps they were returning to the
area after fleeing the storm.
As I rounded the bend near the trails I could see at the far end of the run
that about a dozen more White Pelicans were swimming along near my shrimping
spot and about to head into a small stream to feed. As they began
disappearing into the mouth of the stream, one of them hung back and seemed
to be doing "sentry duty" as I have seen them do before. He was obviously
keeping a wary eye on me while his brethren were feeding against the
outgoing flow coming out of the marsh. I carefully floated with the current
hoping to get at least a few good shots of them feeding once I came into the
clear but just as that was about to happened a crabber came roaring around
the bend.
The "sentry" immediately flushed and flew up the creek where his buddies
were and a second or two later I could hear the loud flapping of many
enormous wings as the group rose from the water and flew over my head. As
I entered the stream where the group had just departed, I saw a lone
Spoonbill feeding and I chased him up the small branch a little ways before
returning to the main channel. There had been at least one Dolphin making a
ruckus near my shrimping spot but he was no where to be seen so I continued
on around the bend and headed toward Tiger Point. New Olympic sport - synchronized
preening
As I rounded the bend opposite the point, I could see where the majority of
the Pelicans had landed - on the shallow side of the mouth of Edwards Creek.
They were swimming along in the soupy mud stretching their long necks out
and sweeping them sideways to feed. After a while they stood up in the mud
and I could see that their bellies and beaks were covered with the stuff and
they looked like they had been swimming in chocolate pudding. They did a
quick grooming and then two by two they flew off around the bend and up Edwards
Creek. I briefly walked around the point inspecting the few trees that had
fallen but it was obvious that the yellow flies had missed a few meals over
the weekend and were happy to make my acquaintance. I headed back to the
main channel and made my way toward the bay where I took a breakfast break
away from the flies. Great Blue Heron with Mantis Shrimp
I had seen the steam coming from the cooling towers at SJRPP bending over at a right angle as I set out,
but until I got away from Black Hammock I hadn't felt it. Now that I was
away from the shelter of the island it was starting
to get a little brisk as the remnants of Fay followed the main storm. I was
paddling along the eastern bank of Pumpkin Hill as I headed back, shooting
some Storks and Spoonbills when a young Great Blue Heron caught my eye. He
began stalking something in the mud and then calmly reached down and pulled
an odd looking crustacean from the soup. I realized as he walked away that
it was a critter I had just learned about in my Naturalist Class and had
seen only one time before in the mouth of an Egret. It was a Mantis Shrimp -
a creature that looks more like a small lobster that someone stepped on
than any shrimp I have seen. The intersting thing about the Mantis Shrimp is that
it has quick powerful little claws that can actually shatter panes of glass and
this is how they kill their prey. Dropping in for dinner
This one was only about 4 inches long but they grow much bigger - up to a
foot. Much like the Egret I had seen with the one on Browns Creek, the Heron
wasn't quite sure what to do with it and finally it flew off with the shrimp
still in it's mouth. I made my way back, noticing that as the water levels
got lower more and more birds were coming out until the area was full of
Spoonbills, Herons, Egrets, Storks and Pelicans chasing prey in the water that was
very full of life. As I rounded the bend near the trails I spotted a group
of Wood Storks on the shallow, muddy side of the creek with several other
kinds of birds. I paddled over and as I began shooting I noticed that other
Wood Storks would suddenly appear overhead, circle and land with their
landing gear extended like a fighter landing on a carrier. This was repeated
several times as the population of Storks doubled in a few minutes. Some of
them were content to groom while others began their tactile feeding in the
mud while the Herons and Egrets did waited for whatever they stirred up.
I finally left them and made my way back home to continue the cleanup.
See the pictures from this trip
8/29/08
Green Heron on the ICW
I completed my Florida Master Naturalist Coastal Systems Class last night
and with our trip down the Suwannee River coming on Monday I knew that this
would my last chance to paddle in this area for a while. I was anxious to
see how Fay had affected the area so I headed to Hannah Mills about at 7:30.
High tide was still an hour away but the water was already above the normal
high tide line and I could see the debris line from the storm just a couple
of feet from Heckscher Drive. Yellow Crowned Night Heron near the
put-in
As soon as I put in I could see that the old concrete retaining wall that
had been constructed years ago - probably when Heckscher had been first
constructed, has been breached by the water and the road is now in danger of
being eroded away. I took some pictures and then headed over to the Night
Heron grove where I shot a Yellow Crowned perching near the water. I then
headed across the glassy pool toward the sea daisy island where I could see
that several Roseate Spoonbills were sleeping. As I got closer, I realized
that they had company and several White Pelicans were also dozing in the
morning sun. I was paddling against a slight current so I carefully
approached but long before the Spoonies spotted me they had been flying off
two by two as the water covered their island. The Pelicans spotted me and
began swimming away and that finally prompted the rest of the Spoonbills to
flush. Spoonbills and Pelicans on Hannah
Mills
I followed the Pelicans as they swam to the north and then when I turned
into the branch that led to the old cedar they flew off and I watched as
they descended into their pool to the north. I paddled toward my old cedar
tree where I was going to eat breakfast and as I got close, I could see that
a Green Heron, a Little Blue and a Snowy Egret were occupying it. Once they
flushed, I realized that the tree looked a bit different and once I pulled
up to it I realized that the reason was due to the fact that Fay had flipped
it over and now the barnacle covered branches were exposed to the air. In
the 10 years or so that I have been visiting this old cedar tree, this is
the first time that I have seen a storm affect it in any way - even the
never ending hurricanes of 2004 didn't move it although those storms brought
in several other trees from the waterway. Spoonies at the Pelican Pool
After taking a break, I took the feeder stream out to the ICW and spent some
time shooting another Green Heron on cedar tree that had also been turned
over by Fay. From there I headed up the waterway to the Pelican Pool where I
took a walk out to the mudflat to check things out. I saw the eight Pelicans
I had seen earlier in the morning. I saw a mass of pink and started counting
the Spoonbills in the two separate shallow pools that are closer to the
waterway. I counted at least 60 which is more than I have ever seen outside
of Guana Lake. Since the yellow flies were still hungry, I didn't stay long
and decided to head north to the entrance to Cedar Point Creek shooting a
Green Heron, an Osprey and a Reddish Egret as I made my way around the
point. Roseate Spoonbills on Hannah Mills
I passed the island where I have camped and decided to enter the creek that
runs on the western side and hooked up with the branch of Cedar Point I took
on my last trip here a couple of weeks ago. I paddled down to the Sea Daisy
Island at the confluence point. From there, I headed east on Hannah Mills
and then back south. There was a large cedar tree that I didn't remember
from my last trip in this part of Hannah Mills and it was full of Spoonbills
whom I spent some time shooting. The sea daisy island where I had started my
day was full of Spoonbills once again now that the water level had dropped a
few feet and after shooting them I headed on across the pool to my truck.
See the pictures from this trip
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